The 2016 IFTA Film & Drama Awards – taking place on Saturday, April 9th at the Mansion House, Dublin – features a vast amount of Northern Irish projects and talent recognized with both IFTA honourees also hailing from Northern Ireland this year.
Ballymena man Liam Neeson (‘Michael Collins; Oscar nominee for ‘Schindler’s List) is to receive the Outstanding Contribution to Cinema Award for an acclaimed career spanning 30 years while Derry actress and producer Roma Downey (‘Touched By An Angel’, ‘The Bible’) is to receive the inaugural Irish Diaspora Award in recognition of her “extraordinary achievements and vision”, along with her humanitarian work.
Northern Irish film ‘The Survivalist’ has been nominated for four IFTA Awards overall, including Best Film. It is also up for Best Director for Northern Irish filmmaker Stephen Fingleton and Best Actor for Belfast thesp Martin McCann, as well as Best Supporting Actress for Olwen Fouéré.
Check out our recent interview with Stephen Fingleton and Martin McCann about ‘The Survivalist’ here.
‘The Survivalist’ was developed through Northern Ireland Screen’s New Talent Focus Scheme and received funding from the Northern Ireland Screen Fund supported by Invest NI.
‘Game of Thrones’, also shot on location in Northern Ireland and made with funding from Northern Ireland Screen supported by Invest NI, received yet another nomination for Best Drama while Liam Cunningham was nominated in the Supporting Actor Drama category for his role on the show.
Belfast actor Stephen Rea, continuing a very impressive vein of form on the small screen, has been nominated for Best Actor Drama for ‘Dickensian’ and Best Supporting Actor Drama for ‘War and Peace’. Rea won an IFTA last year for his supporting performance in the drama series ‘The Honourable Woman’.
Michelle Fairley is nominated for Best Supporting Actress Drama for her performance in ‘Rebellion’ (a category she won in 2014 for ‘Game of Thrones’) with the same category also recognizing Paula Malcomson for HBO series ‘Ray Donovan’.
Also nominated this year is Northern Irish director Brian Kirk for ‘Penny Dreadful’; his sixth IFTA nomination in total - while Derry writer Lisa McGee has received a nomination for Best Writer Drama for Channel 4 drama ‘Indian Summers’, starring Julie Walters.
Northern Irish shot series ‘The Frankenstein Chronicles’ (which filmed on location in Northern Ireland last year and was made with funding from Northern Ireland Screen supported by Invest NI) has also received a nomination in IFTA’s first ever VFX category.
For the full list of IFTA nominees, click here.
